South East Corner of 44th st. and 2nd Ave.A middle-aged man wearing a yarmulke and several pro-Israel pins approaches me:
Man: Young man, young man! You know what Tzedaka is?
Me: What tipped you off?
Man: Ah, we just know our people!
Me: (dropping a few coins into his Temple Bnai Pantry for the Needy bucket and taking notice of his pins and Pro-Israel paraphernalia.) So, you Obama or McCain?
Man: (leaning in) Neither of them is good! Nobody is good anymore! McCain.
Me: I'm so tired of hearing that "nobody is good anymore!" You tell me what's good. You really think that 72 year old wind-bag and that fundamentalist woman of his can run this nation opposed to somebody who is younger and brings new and fresh ideas to the table?
Man: No. But neither is good! (leaning in as if telling me a secret) Well, you know- never trust a Schvartze.
Me: (Shaking my head) And there you are - asking for charity... Sir, you should be ashamed of yourself.
(Walk off- shaking my head.)
14 comments:
So, not only did he use a derogatory, racist word, but he prefaced it with prejudice "Well, you know never trust..."
I would say unbelieveable, but sadly it is believable. Perhaps he felt a kinship with you being a fellow Jew? He felt he could let down his guard and just talk freely with you.
If this goes down in the middle of NYC, think of how hard it's going to be for Obama to win south of the Mason-Dixon line.
I would have rather heard him say, I don't like his healthcare plan, or anything picking apart Obama's policy. His opinon stopped being valid once he let you in on his secret.
Bingo, Mr. Charisma.
Unfortunately, lots of old people are racist. Fortunately, they will be gone sooner than later.
I wouldn't discount all old people -- my Southern, 70-something maternal grandfather has never said anything like that, and he's popped several of his grandchildren for saying anything close to the equivalent of schvartze. Of course, he's a Methodist minister and a very tolerant one at that.
So sad...
snaps to you eric :)
Sometimes I am very embarrassed by some of my fellow Jews.
My 81 year old mother is supporting Obama; unfortunately she votes in CO so she can't directly cancel out this guy's vote, but . . . she votes in CO, which is a battleground/swing state! :)
I hope you got your money back.
I have a feeling that Obama's electoral plan includes only Maryland, D.C. and maybe Virginia below the Mason-Dixon line. Florida's in play, but the interior and north of the state might as well be Alabama.
Oy. An anti-mensch supporting an anti-maverick.
Well done on your part, though. I hope you took your tzedaka back.
@Eric--Big time kudos to you for saying something to that guy!
@Ricky--Um.. racist yourself much?
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
Glad you were there to say something, and didn't just let that bigotry slide. Let's hope the time for change is really at hand.
Kudos for taking on a landsman.
On a side note, with Ed Koch stumping for Obama in Florida, that could make a huge difference in the bubbe and zayde vote. They worship him.
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